Bond By Numbers

More Bond-inspired games, trivia and nonsense as you've come to expect from us at this festive time of year. So spike your punch and cozy up by the yule log - our third Holiday Special is reporting for duty!

The curtain closes on this year's "3 Non Bonds" series with 00-Taylor's choice of Carol Reed's "The Third Man". This influential British noir, set and filmed on location in post-war Austria, stars Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli and Orson Welles. Penned by ex-MI6 agent Graham Greene and boasting inspired involvements from Bernard Lee and Guy Hamilton, Reed's thriller is by no means short of Bond pedigree. Grab your galoshes and flashlights, friends, it's time to hit the Viennese sewers with us in search of The Third Man!

In celebration of Bond's 60th Anniversary on film, we sat down recently to share some of our favourite moments from 007's six decades of franchise life. The challenge seemed painless enough but the selection process was punishing: three hosts, twenty highlights each and a sixty-second clock limiting presentation. So, come join us for some fun as we negotiate then commemorate the threescore peaks of Mount Bond... BBN style!

All aboard! "3 Non-Bonds" Season continues on the show as Scott delivers tickets for a return journey on "John Frankenheimer's The Train", his choice for the annual film festival. This fastidiously rich WW2 film offers cinephiles and history-buffs much to chew on while Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield battle wits on and around the French railways in the dying days of Nazi Occupation. So, take a seat in our first-class coach and relax; in this episode we stoke the fires and do the locomotion over an engaging tale of a patriotic nation and the desperate foes who sought to pillage its cultural treasure.

Our survey of John Gardner's continuation novels carries on with a chat over his third effort. If, like many, you buy into the belief that a Bond's third outing is his best ("Goldfinger", "The Spy Who Loved Me", "Skyfall".... Fleming, too, wrote "Moonraker" third) then Gardner should be stretching comfortably by now. "Icebreaker" sees 007 join an inter-agency operation in Finland to thwart a fascist terrorist group. So, come join us in a world of snowmobiles, double agents and smoked salmon fireside chats. We're off to infiltrate an Ice Palace! It's time to look down the literary gun barrel once again!

Just six weeks before "Die Another Day" hit theatres, a lesser-known commodity was getting its own release. Starring Matt Damon as Robert Ludlum's amnesia-stricken assassin, "The Bourne Identity" would knock the socks off audiences with a new style of action that shifted sands and set a fresh standard for spy thrillers. Well, it's "3 Non Bonds" season again on the show and, what's more, our very own 00-Chapman has selected this modern classic to start festivities! So, grab your winter coats (don't leave them in the park!) and join us at your ex's farmhouse for a cozy discussion of Doug Liman's influential crowd-pleaser.

In July of 1943, as Allied forces planned desperately for Mediterranean access into Europe, Britain's Naval Intelligence were spearheading an intrepid operation, a bait-and-switch of colossal consequence. Commander Ian Fleming, serving as personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence, helped to encourage the intricate planning for what would soon become Operation Mincemeat. In this episode, 00-Chapman, our resident military expert, cracks cover and leads us through a tour of this incredible story. We also offer our thoughts on the recent film adaption, directed by John Madden and starring Colin Firth, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew MacFadyen and Jason Isaacs.

In his second continuation novel, John Gardner returns Bond to the USA and reunites readers with some canonical staples. Motivated by a recent spate of airline hijackings with potential SPECTRE links, Bond is sent by M to investigate an ice-cream magnate from Texas whose guarded compound and general milieu reeks of suspicion. But the decision to resurrect Fleming's narrative ghosts comes with hefty responsibilities and there's a thin line between successful fan-service and ephemeral tokenism. Join us as we go down the literary gunbarrel to discuss the many features of Gardner's sophomore effort!

In recognition of Bond's 60th Anniversary on the big screen we brew up and sit down for a casual chat about "Dr. No", reflecting on the enduring features and legacy of the film that started it all.

So it's time we finally put things right... nearly four years of 007 podcasting have come and gone without a proper ranking of the EON songs and that's just not good enough! Upon discovering this egregious oversight, we recently set about remedying things for the whole darn world. So here it is - the BBN Bond Song Rank-a-thon! Predictably (...ridiculously?), science and scoring govern our contest here so you're invited to play along with us! When the dust settles in our own three-figured thunderdome, what songs will rise to champion status? Join in the fun and find out as we reveal the unequivocal champions of the Bond Song universe!